Taliah Lempert: Introducing the Bicycle Artist

Taliah Lempert lives her passion. Whether exploring Brooklyn, New York, by bike or creating unique paintings of bicycles in her studio, Taliah is doing what she loves.

In 1996, on a whim, Taliah stepped into a Brooklyn bicycle shop and left with a used bike that caught her eye and fit her budget. She had not planned to buy a bike and had no specific reason to get one. But her impulsive decision was the start of something good; very good.

Immediately, Taliah started commuting. “The city opened up for me with the bicycle,” she told us. “I felt so great riding. It kept leading to more great stuff.”

Most of the time, Taliah Lempert gets around town on a Rivendell with 650 B tires and racks. She also enjoys riding her road and cargo bikes. Taliah’s favorite rides are the new adventures she discovers while on two wheels.

Reflecting back on earlier biking adventures, Taliah recalled riding her brother’s hand-me-down bikes on the streets of her childhood home. She revealed that she liked her brother’s bikes, but ultimately she did get a bike of her very own, “a kind of chopper, a 5 speed with a banana seat.” The chopper imagery she provided reminded me of the Schwinn Sting-Ray bikes from my youth.

Taliah’s love of adventure and cycling brought her to the race track, where she competed from 1999-2007, winning the NYS Championship for the matched sprint in 2000. Her commitment to the bicycle as transportation led her to join the local Transportation Alternatives group, an advocacy group for cyclists and pedestrians. She is also a founding member of the bicycle gang, Bicycle Cherry.

Vince’s Cinelli – Cropped 4 February 24, 2008Oil on panel, 16 x 12″

Taliah Lempert’s cycling passion quickly grew to include a fascination with the bicycle as an art form. Right after she committed to biking for transportation, she began painting bicycles. Taliah, a professional artist who studied at the New York Academy of Art and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, Boston, MA., gets inspiration for her paintings everywhere, including the work of others. “I love a lot of artists’ work and it influences my own,” she explained. “A few favorites are Lucian Freud, Ellsworth Kelly, and Polly Apfelbaum.”

Taliah Lempert brings her influences, her talent, and the bikes she uses as subjects for her work to her Williamsburg Brooklyn studio, which she describes as awesome. “I moved in there shortly after doing this body of work,” she explained. “Some of the bikes I paint are mine, most of them are from friends, some are commissions.”

Taliah, a self-represented artist, not only takes commissions but shows in galleries and alternative places. According to the bio on her website, bicyclepaintings.com, Taliah’s art has been shown worldwide. Her work is also available through her website, which has enabled her to find an audience and make a living.

Talia Lempert Goes Beyond Paintings, More Bicycle Art

We first discovered Taliah’s art when we found her coloring book, A Bicycle Coloring Book, Vol. 2, online. Taliah expresses her love of the bicycle through the use of her imagery in other media forms, as well. “I love printmaking and do a lot of hand-pulled prints. I also use my images to make products, including T-shirts, card temporary tattoos, and coasters,” she revealed. Taliah also licenses images to companies that make calendars, jigsaw puzzles, coffee mugs, etc. She’s one busy lady.

A Site to Behold

Whether you’re a casual or serious bike enthusiast, you will enjoy visiting Talia’s website. Explore the GALLERY of her paintings and prints and choose from images of various sizes in screenprint, watercolor monoprint, oil pastel on paper, charcoal on paper, etc.

One very intriguing part of Taliah’s website is under the top menu heading, STUDIO. Hover over the word and choose a year from 1997 to 2018. The resulting pages will show all of Taliah’s works in progress from that year. Click on one of the many works displayed and you will see the painting happen, which shows the progress of the work from start to finish. This look into the details of Taliah’s work gave me a great appreciation for the incredible effort and time she puts into each piece.

And there is so much more to learn about Taliah Lempert. Under the INFO menu heading, you will find her Resume-CV, publications in which she appears, scheduled events, a link to her blog, and more. Under STUFF, you’ll find all the fun gift items with Taliah’s bicycle imagery. Be sure to take a second look under GALLERY. You’ll find an ARCHIVE full of selections of Taliah’s work from private collections. There are some amazing pieces in those collections!

Whether Taliah Lempert is riding one of her bikes for transportation or adventure, she rides with passion. And whether she is painting a friend’s beloved bicycle in oils, drawing one of her own with charcoal, or working with handheld prints, she creates with passion. Taliah’s profile on her Etsy site begins with the statement, “There are so many reasons I like bicycles, I can’t do them justice with words.” We hope that our words did do justice in giving our readers a look into how she lives her passion.